The long-running battle between developer Gary Feiner and residents of the landmarked Sisterna Tract neighborhood has flared up again. -more-
The hours of several instructional aides in the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) may get slashed, whereas the Berkeley Board of Education considers pay increases for district administration. -more-
Mixed baby greens dressed in Sesame Goddess vinaigrette and soy bacon bits drenched in Miso Ginger dressing paved the way for the nation’s first ever certified organic kitchen on an American college campus at UC Berkeley’s Crossroads dining commons on Thursday. -more-
Thanks to a grant from a major national nonprofit, arts education in Alameda County is a quarter of a million dollars richer. -more-
Teachers, parents, labor supporters and other members of the community will descend upon Oakland City Hall Wednesday at 4 p.m. to demand support from city officials in an ongoing clash over contract negotiations. -more-
The good news is the student at King Middle School who came down with pertussis—whooping cough to most of us—a couple of weeks ago has taken the prescribed dose of antibiotics, is no longer contagious and is back at school. -more-
Due to an administrative snafu, the public has additional opportunity to debate Wednesday the merits of a study assessing traffic patterns at a proposed West Berkeley marketplace. -more-
There have been “significant improvements” in the payroll problems that have plagued the Alameda County Medical Center in recent weeks, according to a spokesperson for the union representing hospital workers. -more-
As the dismembering of the once-mighty Knight Ridder newspaper chain progresses, a leading shareholder of one of the nation’s leading homebuilding companies has emerged as a potential buyer of two papers. -more-
The Richmond City Council will make two key decisions tonight (Tuesday) on the proposed 269-condo Westshore Marina Project at Marina Bay. -more-
The acting registrar of voters for Alameda County urged citizens registering for the first time who want to vote in the June 6 primary and nominating election to get their paperwork in early, expecting numerous delays and problems with California’s new registration requirements. -more-
“Sleep when the baby sleeps” -more-
Historic neighborhoods coping with change seem to be an informal unifying theme of most of this spring’s Berkeley Historical Society’s walking tours. -more-
Fires damaged two Berkeley residences Friday night and almost killed a cat, while mudslides threaten to cut off three homes from emergency services, reports Deputy Fire Chief David P. Orth. -more-
The little red wagons have been swapped for grown-up soft coolers (still red), wagon operators have been replaced by food runners about twice as tall, and food portions are slightly larger, but everything else is about the same: Alternative High School students are receiving a free morning meal. -more-
The Oakland City Council took its first formal look at the massive Oak Street to Ninth Street waterfront development project Tuesday night, hearing presentations both from the developers themselves and an overflow crowd of organizations and Oakland resi dents that spilled over into two downstairs hearing rooms at City Hall. -more-
Berkeley police arrested two suspects in the Saturday night murder of a father who was shot after he took a gun away from a party goer in his Prince Street home. -more-
After almost five years of struggle between management and workers, peace has finally descended on the majestic Claremont Resort & Spa. -more-
A cautious Peralta Board of Trustees gave Chancellor Elihu Harris limited authority to explore the administrative takeover of the troubled Compton Community College District, but only after inserting language giving the board a greater say in the outcome. -more-
Oakland Police responding to a report of a car crash on Brookdale Avenue at 9:05 p.m. Tuesday found a 40-year-old Berkeley woman suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. -more-
Further tests are needed to determine just what killed a Berkeley man whose body was discovered in a burning car near his home at 1900 El Dorado Ave. early Friday morning. -more-
What’s that old saying? There’s no such thing as a free, uh, wind turbine. -more-
Oakland teachers will hold a one-day strike April 20 if contract talks fail to lead to a settlement, the union announced yesterday. -more-
Explaining why he wants to run for mayor, Richard Berkeley paraphrased Emiliano Zapata: “The only reason to take power is to give it back to the people,” he said. -more-
The downpour didn’t stop some 30 people from searching for “sunshine”—open, accessible government—at a community meeting in City Hall Monday evening. -more-
There is simply nothing like a freshly harvested homegrown vegetable for flavor. That easiest of all vegetables to grow, the humble radish, is absolutely at its tastiest best when pulled from the ground in spring, given a good scrub under the kitchen tap, and eaten then and there. Pungent, crisp, it is the very essence of spring. -more-
On March 15, Berkeley police seized 120 pounds of dried marijuana, more than 5,000 plants, $120,000 cash and several weapons from a growing outfit headquartered at 809 Allston Way in West Berkeley. -more-
Rain. Rain. And more rain. We have sure had a lot of it this spring. Around the bay, March’s 31 days produced from 22 to 25 days of rain, depending on where you were standing when you counted, breaking records going all the way back to the middle of the 19th century. The total amount of rain in March set records too, ranging from 7.22 inches at the usually warm and sunny Oakland airport to 8.74 inches in San Francisco, always somewhat damper than the East Bay. And the prediction is that it won’t let up for a while. -more-
Last week I pulled an unopened box of shredded wheat off the top shelf in our pantry to offer to grandchildren, and happened to notice that its “sell by” date was 2003. That’s how long it’s been since I visited that shelf, and, not coincidentally, that’s how long we’ve been running this paper. Many things in our lives stopped when this enterprise started. The relentless pressure of twice-weekly deadlines, coupled with the never-ending minutiae of running an understaffed small business, leaves little time for frivolous entertainments like eating shredded wheat. -more-
Bird-killing guillotines in Berkeley? Your recent article, “Berkeley Plans to Accept ‘Free’ Wind Turbine for Marina” (Daily Planet, March 31) was quite depressing. It seems that the City of Berkeley is planning on allowing Southwest Wind Power, Inc. to install one of its industrial electricity-generating wind turbines on the Marina as part of a “green energy” demonstration project. -more-
In this progressive City of Berkeley, so-called “affordable housing” is not within reach of people with incomes that hover around the poverty line. Section 8 is a high-odds lottery that’s hanging by a thread. Investing in a condo or TIC is not a possibility for people living on fixed incomes whose nest egg is gone. And for older folks, applying for the scarce senior housing options that exist can mean years of waiting for a one-room studio and saying goodbye to treasured possessions. -more-
Kenoli Oleari’s commentary in the March 31 Daily Planet contains erroneous statements about the development-planning grant for the west parking lot of Ashby BART. It concerns me that such misinformation could discourage some people from participating in the planning process. Below are some clarifying comments, correct information and resources for the reader to review on their own. -more-
It’s business as usual with the Ashby BART “development.” In a recent move by Ed Church and the South Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation (SBNDC), SBNDC is now going to choose a team of people who will represent all of South Berkeley to the City Council in a process to hire a developer for the Ashby BART site. And this before we have had one conversation as a community about what we want regarding the Ashby BART station. -more-
Write on behalf of some landmark preservation dispute and people roll their eyes over how the preservationists have just gone too far, pushed too hard, and need a more balanced perspective. -more-
The Landmark Theatre Act 1 & 2 on Center Street is shutting down and I can’t say that I feel bad about it. Act 1 is inaccessible to wheelchair users due to stairs. Act 2 can be accessed by using a small lift located in the lobby. But the lift doesn’t always work. My husband and I were once refunded our money after getting trapped inside it, unable to go up or down. -more-
There sure are some funny-looking trees in this town. Some of them are the results of whimsical pruning—there’s a big cedar in my general neighborhood, a traffic accident in waiting because I can’t be the only person who reflexively eases up on the gas p edal to stare when passing it. -more-
U.S. Secretary Of State Condoleeza Rice’s recent visit to Jakarta was the concluding act in the Bush administration’s five-year drive to whitewash the Indonesian military’s sordid past, green light Indonesia’s occupation of West Papua, and forge another l ink in Washington’s plan to ring China with U.S. military bases and allies. -more-
My grandfather Ellis was a dreamer, a visionary who always had more ideas and plans carried around in his pockets than he had room in his life to complete. The house he and my grandmother once had off of Seminary Avenue in East Oakland was full of his projects—gardens and sheds and walkways—in various stages of completion and uncompletion. Once, he decided he wanted to add an upstairs bedroom to the house and immediately began to build it, starting with an outside staircase. The staircase was completed and then my grandfather got distracted by other things, so that for the longest it hung there on the side of the house by itself, a stairway to noplace. -more-
The following is an excerpt from Richard Schwartz’s Earthquake Exodus, 1906: Berkeley Responds to the San Francisco Refugees. The Daily Planet will run two more excerpts in the coming weeks. -more-
The Ballad Singer strikes up with the one about Mack The Knife—“Mackie Messer,” more properly—and the upside-down underworld odyssey of Brecht and Weill’s Threepenny Opera begins. -more-
“How much do I love my child?” The question is repeated over and over like a mantra in Eric Coble’s Bright Ideas, a comedy that “combines Macbeth, pesto and murder,” now running in Shotgun Players’ production at the Ashby Stage. -more-
There sure are some funny-looking trees in this town. Some of them are the results of whimsical pruning—there’s a big cedar in my general neighborhood, a traffic accident in waiting because I can’t be the only person who reflexively eases up on the gas p edal to stare when passing it. -more-
“I get goosebumps listening to that music,” Howard Wiley said. “Anything you do that gives you goosebumps—that experience is good.” -more-
The Jazz House, homeless this past year and a half since losing their lease on Adeline Street, is coming back to Berkeley tonight (Friday) at 8 p.m. with a show by young Finnish drummer Andre Sumelius, with his countryman, saxophonist Jussi Kannaste, and bassist John Shifflett, at Da Silva’s Ukelele Shop, 2547 Eighth St., co-produced by Berkeley Arts Festival. Sumelius won the Finnish Grammy for his 2001 album Kira. -more-
Jacques Demy has taken a lot of hits over the years. He was a man who attempted to make movies for everyone, yet he was never what people wanted him to be. He wasn’t political enough, wasn’t edgy enough, wasn’t rebellious enough. -more-
The following is an excerpt from Richard Schwartz’s Earthquake Exodus, 1906: Berkeley Responds to the San Francisco Refugees. The Daily Planet will run two more excerpts in the coming weeks. -more-
Over the years I’ve probably been asked how I inspect a house or what am I looking for at least a thousand times. It’s a valid question. I guess it’s like saying “How do you inspect a square kilometer of desert?” -more-
Persistent readers may have noticed, in this and other writings in this and other publications (I refer specifically to my every-other-Tuesday back page column on the trees of Berkeley in the Daily Planet), that I have definite opinions and strong feelings about, of all things, the treatment of trees. -more-
